This invention relates to deleavers for separating the plies of multiple-ply, continuous business froms stationery assemblies. The most relevant prior art known to the applicant is U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,094 to Absler et al.
With the increasing use of continuous business forms assemblies in a variety of business operations due to the efficiency provided thereby, there has been a corresponding increase in the use of mechanized apparatus for performing various processing operations on such assemblies. A typical type of such apparatus is a so-called "deleaver" which is employed for the purpose of separating multiple-ply, continuous business forms assemblies into individual plies and for removing interleaved carbon transfer material located between stationery plies if such is used.
In the most basic sense, a deleaver includes an input end whereat a continuous business forms assembly typically folded in a zig-zag stack, is located. The form is fed through the deleaver to an output end which may be defined by a plurality of pockets each for receiving a designated ply or plies of the assembly. Various means are employed for driving the continuous business forms assembly from the input end to the output end. Frequently, pinfeed devices which engage control punched margins typically found on such forms are employed. In addition, where forms having interleaved carbon are employed, carbon takeup reels, generally equal in number to the number of pockets less one, are associated with all but the last pocket for winding up the interleaved carbon and thereby drawing the stationery through the deleaver.
Such devices do not always operate consistently to provide smooth deleaving. For example, because pinfeed drives tend to push the form through the apparatus, by reason of the tendency of the form, when not under tension, to reassume the typical zig-zag folded shape, the various plies of the same may not enter the pockets and refold smoothly. Similarly, because as a carbon takeup reel becomes loaded, its effective diameter increases, the rate at which the form is pulled through the apparatus will steadily increase from the beginning to the end of the run with the consequence that such carbon takeup devices tend to buck other feeding devices driven at a uniform rate from start to finish during the deleaving process. Such bucking can also interfere with uniform refolding of the individual plies within their associated pocket.